


Angel With A Shotgun

by JackalBae (iKain2)



Series: Spanish Dog and Canadian Moose [3]
Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: Adorable Buck, Birthday Fluff, Clubbing, Domestic, Drabble Collection, Drinking Games, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Other, Pool Party, Pre-Relationship, Sleepy Cuddles, Sparring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-03-30 07:39:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 7,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13946826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iKain2/pseuds/JackalBae
Summary: A smaller collection of short (under 1000 words) Buck/Jackal ficlets. Mostly fluffy, but some may be sad, hurt/comfort, or angsty at times.





	1. Buck is shy but Dokki gives him a little push

The Spaniard's BDU pants were more form-fitting than usual, Sébastian silently thought to himself as he was strapping on his customary holsters. From where he was sitting down on the bench in the Hereford Base HQ's armory, he could see the other man removing his combat gear at the other side of the locker room.

"...and then we - are you even listening? Séb-oh. _Oh_." Grace Nam's voice eventually filtered through, although she ended her sentence with a curious hum. The woman leaned over, her keen eyes very quickly figuring out what angle her fellow operator was looking in.

"Sorry about that. What were you saying?" Having been caught staring, Sébastian coughed awkwardly and resumed strapping on the rest of his gear.

"...I see." Grace crossed her arms across her chest, tilting her head slightly, before looking at Sébastian. The man didn't meet her eyes as he zipped up his thick jacket and grabbed his CAMRS rifle.

From across the armory, Ryad scrubbed his fingers through his hair, trying to untangle the mess that inevitably resulted from wearing the Eyenox headset for hours at a time. After a minute, he gave up, placed his headset into his locker, and then bent over to re-tie the laces on his boots.

Sébastian let out a quiet, strangled sound and rubbed his hands across his face. Grace took another look at her friend's obvious struggle and then simply put her hand on the older man's shoulder with a look of pity. "You sound like you are dying, _Oppa_."

Sébastian's reply was muffled through his palms.

"You should probably go and talk to him before you leave." With a smile that showed all of her teeth, Grace patted the man's shoulder a few more times, the fluorescent light glinting off her glasses. The locker next to her shut quietly and Tina Lin Tsang gave her CTU counterpart an pointed look that spoke volumes of how exasperated she was with Sébastian.

“Just go and say hi for God’s sake, or I’ll lock you out of the dorm tonight. I swear I’ll do it.”

With a heavy exhale, Sébastian pushed himself up to his feet. Very aware of the pair of eyes staring at the back of his head, he made his way over to where Ryad was now hanging up his jacket in his assigned locker.

"H-hey, Ryad."

" _Buenas._ " Ryad's lopsided grin was infectious, and Sébastian could already feel himself starting to smile in response. "Going out soon?"

"Yes, in a few minutes. I'm waiting for Craig and Monica to finish their briefings." Relaxing his death-grip on the strap of his rifle, Sébastian tried to keep his nerves at bay. “What are you going to do now that you’ve finished training for the day?”

“Take a shower, undoubtedly. I can’t go walking around looking all disgusting like this, no?” With a slight grimace, Ryad ran a hand again through his hair, which was dripping sweat and sticking to his forehead.

“I think you look good to me. I mean, you look - uhm, fine and...” Sébastian paused after those words left his mouth, feeling as if the bottom of his stomach dropped while his brain went on a one-track thought process of _why did I just say that lord help me oh god_.

As the long moment of awkward silence grew between them, Sébastian could feel his face heating up in embarrassment.

Then, Sébastian felt the phone in his pocket vibrate and the dulcet tones of _Let’s Marvin Gaye and get it on_ came from it at full blast. That was definitely _not_ his usual ringtone.

Ryad’s eyes widened, and then the man simply laughed, a hand going to cover his mouth as if he wasn’t prepared for that at all.

Taking out his phone and silencing the call that had Grace’s signature Logic Bomb picture on the screen, Sébastian turned around to glare at the likely culprit, Grace, but found that both her and Tina had disappeared.

“I’m sure our friends are tired of our dancing around, yes?” Ryad’s light comment had Sébastian turning around with the intention to apologize for his awkwardness, like any good Canadian would, but instead he found himself turning right into a pair of very kissable lips.

Sébastian blinked, almost in disbelief, when Ryad pulled away with a cheeky smirk. The Spaniard reached up and tugged at Sébastian’s beanie in a teasing manner. “Perhaps if you are quick enough, we can get some food together later.”

With that, Ryad winked and sauntered out of the armory.

A hard slap of a gloved hand against his back jolted Sébastian out of his stupor. Craig Jenson’s hearty chuckle had Sébastian’s ears flushing red again. “Let’s get going, loverboy. We’ll be back before you know it.”

Sébastian gave the door where Ryad had gone through one last look before following Craig out of the armory, a small smile tugging at his lips.


	2. It’s Buck’s turn to cook dinner on Saturday, but...

“Sorry mate, we’re off to the pub and we can’t let Mike and Seamus beat us to the free drinks on trivia night!”

“Can’t miss the football game, it’s the Seahawks versus the 49ers. Maybe next time?”

“One of my colleagues in London needs my opinion on her patient’s case, so I will not be on base. Sorry, Sébastian.”

“We’re all going out for a girls-only outing! Hopefully some clubbing and drinks can cheer up Zofia after her last fight with Ela. Save some leftovers for us, please?”

Almost all of the operators that were not out in the field had one excuse or another as to where they were going out. Though it hurt a little, at least they were more polite than usual about it, Sébastian mused as he pulled a _tourtière du Lac-Saint-Jean_ out of the oven and set it on the stove top to cool. The smell of slow-cooked beef, pork, chicken, and potatoes coming from the relatively simple meat pie was more than enough to make his stomach start rumbling. But, there was still one more dish he had in the oven, and it was his favorite comfort food.

Sébastian pulled out a tray of poutine from the oven, setting it aside with a small smile. The gravy had turned out perfectly and was likely going to taste much richer than the usual kind because he had used the leftovers from the _tourtière_. He may not know much about cooking some of the more complicated recipes that Gilles or Alexsandr may dish up on occasion, but sometimes he felt that simpler recipes tasted just as good.

“Sébastian? Did you cook something?" The Canadian turned around at the quiet question coming from the doorway to the kitchen. Ryad was leaning tiredly against the door frame, his hair uncombed and dressed in sweats. Draped loosely around his shoulders was what looked to be Sébastian's red-and-black checkered coat. The man looked as if he hadn't slept in the past 72 hours despite actually having been asleep for at least eight since he was on medical-mandated bed rest the entire day.

" _T_ _ourtière_ and poutine. Do you want something to drink?"

"Some water, please."

While Sébastian went to get a glass of water and some plates, Ryad all but collapsed into the nearest dining chair with a groan. The Spaniard rubbed at his temples, muttering softly in Spanish underneath his breath about the migraine that he undoubtedly had. When Sébastian set down the glass of water and a plate of the food he'd cooked in front of him, Ryad mustered up enough energy to give the man a grateful smile.

Knowing that neither one of them was going to be able to finish the entirety of the _tourtière_ and poutine, he wrapped some foil around the containers and let it keep warm on the stove top. When the other operators came back from their long night out, they'd probably want something warm to eat to balance out the copious amount of alcohol consumed. Finally, Sébastian dished up his own plate, grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, and then sat down in the chair next to Ryad with a sigh.

They ate quietly, with the only other noises being the barely-audible classical music coming from the old-fashioned radio by the stove that belonged to Mike. Halfway through the meal, Sébastian felt Ryad list over to his side, his head coming to rest on his shoulder. Sébastian glanced over and saw that the man had fallen asleep after drinking most of the water and eating a few bites of the _tourtière_.

Carefully, and as quietly as he could, Sébastian shifted so that his favorite person was pressed against him in a more comfortable position, kicked up his socked feet onto the dining chair across from him, and continued eating.


	3. Jackal and Caveira spar. Buck watches from the sidelines.

Taina’s unpainted face was no less terrifying with her smile, which showed off a few of her teeth that had been filed into dangerous points. The Brazilian woman was breathing heavily, her arms up in a defensive stance that she rarely used. “Come on, _cabr_ _ó_ _n_. You tired already?”

“You’re slowing down on your left side. It seems that I’m not the one who’s tired.” Ryad wiped a forearm across his face and then flipped his dulled combat knife around, holding it in Taina’s signature style. He sprang forward aggressively, his knife missing the woman’s bicep when she dodged around to hook a foot around his ankle to trip him.

Ryad fell back, but then used his momentum to kick at Taina’s face – sadly blocked by her crossed arms – and then swept a leg out to return the favor to her as he got back to his feet quickly. With a second, the woman fell back but then rolled to her feet in a low crouch. She and Ryad circled each other, reading each other’s minute movements and collecting information for their next strikes.

Both operators were breathing heavily. Ryad’s plain gray shirt was completely soaked in sweat, while Taina’s hair had escaped from her tight braid and stuck to the back of her neck.

After a few moments, while still circling each other, Ryad quickly tugged off his sweaty shirt with a frustrated grunt and tossed it down next to him. Taina smirked, but said nothing as she darted forward to take advantage of her opponent’s distraction to jump and sweep him to the ground with swift force of her very illegal leg sweep across his neck and shoulders. However, instead of pinning the Spaniard to the mat with the back of her legs, Taina found herself half-crushed by Ryad’s weight as the man was barely able to roll over her while clutching at his sweaty shirt.

While Ryad found himself slowly being suffocated between Taina’s thighs, Taina found herself being slowly strangled by the makeshift rope that Ryad had made out of his discarded shirt. It seemed that they had reached a stalemate, although a dangerous one.

From the edge of the sparring area, a low wolf whistle coming from Dominic had Sébastian aiming a glare at possibly-insane German.

“What I wouldn’t give to be choked like that by Taina… or Elias.”

“Go and get Doc before they hurt each other more, you loon.” Monika’s hand immediately went to slap Dominic across the back of his head. When the man scampered away, looking broken-hearted, Monika turned to Sébastian with a worried look. “Don’t you think that maybe we should pry those two apart?”

“...Perhaps.” Sébastian watched the muscles in Ryad’s bare arms straining from the force. Taina also seemed to be struggling as hard as she could. Neither of them seemed particularly interested in stopping. “Let me go in first.”

“Alright then.” Monika stepped back and gestured, as if giving him the go-ahead.

Sébastian made his way over to the wriggling pair of operators on the mat, giving both of them his best stern face. “I think you two are done for now, eh? I do not think Doc would appreciate either of you killing the other this session.”

After a few delayed moments, both of them released the other, gasping for air and clutching at their necks. Taina rolled to her feet with practiced motions, cracking her neck a few times and then gathered up her hair with a grumble as she limped away. Ryad lifted up a hand to Sébastian, who gripped it and helped him up to his feet. The Spaniard unrolled his shirt with a grimace and shook it out.

While they were walking towards the bench that Sébastian had been sitting on earlier to watch the spar, the Canadian leaned over slightly to whisper, “You should teach me that some time.”

Ryad gave Sébastian a look that was positively _dirty_ , and then whispered back with a grin, “I’d love to spar with you in private.”

Both men’s grins dropped when the door to the training room slammed open and a very angry Doc holding a first aid kit stormed into the room.


	4. “20 years… and I have nothing to show for it."

“Sébastian, can I have a moment with you before you leave?” The strangely cautious tone in Doc’s voice had the Canadian pausing from where he was going to slide off the examination chair. He’d been given a clean bill of health from the post-mission checkup, so hopefully nothing was wrong…

“Sure, Doc. What’s the matter?”

“As you know, Ryad has not been back for a little over a week on a solo intelligence gathering assignment that Six personally selected him for.” Doc swiped something to the side of his tablet and then set it aside on the tray next to the exam chair. He seemed unsettled, but hid it quite well.

“Yes, I am aware. Is everything alright?” Sébastian started feeling something uneasy in his gut. Solo missions, especially coming straight from the head of the Rainbow team, were not always the easiest nor the cleanest ones to finish.

“Ryad returned very early this morning. As a doctor, I cannot tell you the specifics of the post-debrief. But… as a friend, I will say this: you may wish to speak to him. He is not in a good place right now, I think.”

Sébastian looked down at his hands, and then back up at Doc, now very worried. “He’s not badly injured?”

“ _Non_. It is something else. He did not want to talk much about it to me, so I am hoping that in the very least, he will share it with you so he will not feel alone in this.” Doc sighed and took off his gloves, tossing the used nitrile into the biohazard disposal bin. The man looked weary and in dire need of sleep, but there was always something that needed to be done.

“I will speak to him after I leave. Thank you for telling me.” Sébastian tugged his turtleneck on quickly, and the unsettling feeling in his gut did not reduce in the slightest as he left Doc’s office and headed towards the GEO operators’ dorm room.

He knocked on the door, which opened after a few seconds. Elena, her face unmarked of paint and looking as if she had just woken up, greeted him.

“Good morning, Elena.”

The woman yawned, not bothering to hide it behind her hand. “ _Buenas días_ , Séb. Are you looking for Ryad? He came back from wherever some hours ago, but I think he left the room when I went back to sleep.”

“Oh.” Sébastian scratched at the back of his neck. “I… well, sorry for waking you up, then.”

“It’s no problem. See you at breakfast later?”

“Sure.”

The door closed and Sébastian found himself wandering the base, looking for Ryad. He was not in the kitchen, the locker room, or in the common room, although Sébastian did find some of the older operators having their customary early morning tea, coffee, and smoke session. None of them knew where Ryad was, however, so Sébastian continued his search.

Eventually, Sébastian had checked all of the man’s usual spots in the base, except for the roof. As he went up the small set of stairs that led to the roof’s hatch access, he found that the hatch was already propped open.

On the roof was Ryad, sitting near the edge with his back to the hatch. He was slumped against the bars lining the roof, and to his side was a half-filled bottle of tequila. The man turned his head slightly, saw that it was Sébastian, and then turned back to watch the sun slowly crawling its way up into the early morning.

“Good morning.” Sébastian shuffled over and sat down next to Ryad, stretching his legs out. Despite the chill, it was quiet. Almost peaceful, even.

“ _Buenas._ ” Ryad grabbed the bottle of tequila and took a long swig from it. He offered it to Sébastian, who declined politely.

They sat in silence for a long while while Ryad slowly but surely finished the bottle. Only then, did the man speak in a voice uncharacteristically small and defeated.

“20 years… and I have nothing to show for it. I thought I’d finally found the trail of my brother’s murderer, but it was nothing, again. Nothing at all.

Sébastian remained quiet, although he did wrap an arm around Ryad’s shoulders. The other man curled into him, his face buried in the crook between shoulder and neck. Sébastian said nothing about the drops of wetness seeping through his shirt and simply pulled him close.


	5. His name is Buck and he likes to

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follow up to 3rd ficlet.

“Fuck!” Sébastian face-planted onto the sparring mat, his arms twisted up painfully behind him. With the weight of a full-grown man on his back and legs, he was effectively pinned to the floor.

“Mm, too slow.” A warm puff of breath against his ear was his only warning before he was flipped over and a pair of mischievous lips planted a quick kiss against his mouth. It lasted only for a second before the other man rolled off him and to his feet. He already missed the weight. “It’s almost as if you do not want to win, Sébastian.”

The Canadian huffed as he got back onto his feet, his face unmistakably red as he ‘adjusted’ his workout pants. He got back into his combat-ready stance, arms up and fingers spread for a grapple that he’d failed to make for the past half-hour.

“To be perfectly honest, I did not think that this was what you meant by sparring privately.” At the end of his remark, Sébastian rushed forward and ducked lower this time, crashing into Ryad’s stomach as if he was playing rugby. The arms in his muscles strained as he shifted the weight over his shoulder and then completely off him.

Ryad’s surprised squawk as he hit the mat behind him, having effectively been flipped a full 180 degrees within the span of a few seconds, had Sébastian chuckling and turning around. Ryad was half-turned on his side, already in the process of pushing himself up.

Sébastian took the opportunity to quickly grab the other man’s arms, pulled them behind his back, and then sat on top of his legs so he wouldn’t be able to pull another one of those crazy-flexible leg sweeps to reverse their positions.

After few minutes of struggling, of which Sébastian kept his grip firm and unyielding, Ryad’s head finally thumped onto the mat. “...I may have spoken too soon.”

“Tired yet? Because I am.” Sébastian leaned over, pressing down with the weight of his entire body.

“Well, I can feel something that _isn’t_ tired. Maybe I can help you with that.” Ryad purred those words out as he wriggled a little more underneath him.

“Here, of all places?” Sébastian glanced at the closed doors to the sparring room and then back down to the other man. “I’m sure someone’s watching the cameras right now.”

“And? We won’t be the first, nor the last.”

Blood rushed up to Sébastian’s face at that simple truth. His grip on Ryad loosened just enough that he was suddenly shoved backwards, falling onto his back with a pained grunt, and then found himself with a lapful of smirking Spaniard. A hand trailed down his stomach.

“Don’t you worry, I’ll make sure you don’t leave a mess behind...”


	6. “Mon chéri, c’est à ton tour. De te laisser parler d’amour."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Jackal was born on a leap year, and yes, I know that it’s not February anymore. Late-ish timing. :(

“Did Ryad tell you that it’s his birthday today?” With one hand pressed against her cheek and the other grasping at her forkful of bacon, Elena lazily chewed her breakfast.

“No? Ah, crap. I did not buy anything.” Next to her, Sébastian took a sip of coffee. He pulled out his phone, hoping that he could perhaps find something nice to buy for Ryad with such short notice. Or perhaps dinner at a good restaurant?

“He turned 50, so that’s probably why.”

Sébastian’s mouthful of coffee went spraying across the dining table and would have drenched Meghan, who was sitting across from them, were it not for his quick reflexes. The man slapped a napkin to his face and coughed into it.

Elena worriedly thumped his back. “ _Ay, dios m_ _í_ _o!_ ”

“Sorry, sorry.” Sébastian coughed a few more times and then grabbed another napkin to wipe at the drops of coffee he spat out onto the table.

“What, he never tell you how old he was?” With a slight frown, Meghan dabbed at her shirt with a napkin.

Sébastian finally stopped coughing, his face red. “I knew he was older than me by some years, but not by that much!”

“Really? How old are you, anyways?” Elena grabbed the used napkins, balled them up, and then tossed it in a perfect arc into the trashcan.

“37. I thought he was 40, maybe 42?” Sébastian downed the rest of his coffee.

Elena and Meghan both gave Sébastian a quizzical look and then turned to share a conversation consisting entirely of fine eyebrow movements with each other. Sébastian did not even bother trying to interpret their weirdness.

“I guess the beard makes you look older...” Elena gestured at his face with her fork before scraping the last of her bacon off the plate.

“Yeah, and the lack of a beard makes Ryad look way younger. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ryad with a full beard, actually. Let me check. Grace might’ve found some old pictures.” Meghan pulled out her phone, scrolling through her photo gallery.

Sébastian raised an eyebrow at the two women as a thought occurred to him, and then smiled. “He certainly doesn’t fuck like a 50 year old.”

Meghan rolled her eyes while Elena gagged, shoving Sébastian off his chair.

“I did _not_ need to know that, _capullo_!”

“Sorry!”

* * *

It was just after dinner time when Ryad finally returned to Hereford Base. Feeling hungry for once, the Spaniard made his way over to the kitchen. There, he found Siu Mei Lin and Sébastian whispering to each other over the stovetop. Their heads were ducked down and they were standing close, but from the doorway Ryad could not see what they were doing.

He knocked on the door frame. The two looked up, and Ryad blinked in confusion when two pairs of blindingly-bright smiles were aimed in his direction.

“Welcome back!” Siu Mei rushed forward and gave Ryad a tight hug. “Happy birthday!”

Momentarily surprised by the short woman’s very strong hug, Ryad paused for a moment before hugging her back, a genuine smile on his face. “ _Gracias_. You didn’t have to, I don’t really celebrate it much.”

“Well, celebrate or not, your boyfriend wants to give something to you! He made it, so it is good!” Siu Mei let him go, practically jumping in place from excitement.

Siu Mei’s enthusiasm had Sébastian chuckling as he walked up, a cupcake on a plate in his hands. There was a single lit candle stuck on top. “Churro and chocolate cupcake. I needed some help from Siu Mei, since I do not know much about baking.”

“I… it looks really good.” Ryad took the plate and was just about to blow out the candle when Sébastian stopped him.

Sébastian took hold of Ryad’s unoccupied hand and leaned in close. “ _Mon ch_ _é_ _ri, c’est_ _à_ _ton tour. De te laisser parler d’amour._ Happy birthday, Ryad.

The Spaniard’s eyes were glassy as he blew out the candle and tugged Sébastian in for a gentle kiss. The sound of a phone taking a picture had him smiling wider when they pulled away.


	7. Jackal adores sleepy Buck.

The fingers scratching gently through his messy hair slowly woke Sébastian up from his impromptu nap, although he felt much too comfortable to move at all from his warm spot next to Ryad’s bare side.

“Wha’time iz’it?” His accent thick with sleep, Sébastian rolled onto his side and dragged an arm over to rest onto his lover’s stomach.  

“Two. You slept for almost an hour.” Although the room was unoccupied except for them, Ryad’s response was barely louder than a hushed whisper.

“C’mon, go t’a sleep…” Sébastian hummed against the patch of bare skin he pressed his face into. The scent of sweat and other things lingered heavily in the sheets, reminding him of their earlier activities.

Ryad made a soft noise and resumed combing his fingers through Sébastian’s hair, paying special attention to the adorable cowlick above Sébastian’s left ear that refused to settle down. “I will, soon. Just close your eyes, _mi amor_.”

Sébastian answered that with a soft snore, already back to a kind of sleep achieved only with a busy day, good food, and exhaustive loving. In contrast, Ryad kept up his light scratching, wide awake and absorbed in memorizing every little detail of Sébastian visible through the weak moonlight filtering in the window blinds. Although he knew that insomnia would keep him up until dawn, he figured that there wasn’t any other way he would rather spend his time.    


	8. Someone is encroaching on his territory, and Buck is none too pleased about it.

With a mild frown, Sébastian grabbed a handful of Elias’s shirt and tugged the drunk man back down from on top of the table safely into his seat. The heavy EDM pounding through the floors and the walls of the club drowned out the German’s slurred words as he shotgunned another beer to the cheers of their equally-drunk friends. To Sébastian’s right, all tucked against each other in their corner seats and giggling while drinking copious amounts of alcohol in their excitedly drunken stupor, were Monika and Emmanuelle. In the crowd of people on the dance floor a few meters away, Sébastian could spot Eliza and Jordan having fun teasing some poor young college student that probably didn’t expect to stumble dangerously inbetween those two.

As sober designated driver for the evening, Sébastian sat back, took a sip from his non-alcoholic mix, and kept an eye on his friends as they enjoyed themselves and let loose on their first night off in two months.

For the fifth time in the past ten minutes, his gaze wandered back to the bar. The frown he had on deepened slightly more. A woman in a short, tight dress and fishnet leggings had draped herself across Ryad’s side, clearly trying to get into his lap. She giggled as the man smiled and tried to pry her off him with little success.

Her hand was sliding up Ryad’s thigh as she leaned in, trying to kiss him. Sébastian carefully moved Elias over in his seat, drained his drink, and politely shoved his way through the crowd of people. When he made it to the bar, the woman had somehow called in backup and there was now two other women in equally-short dresses pawing at Ryad.

Sébastian casually tapped one of the women on the shoulder. When she turned around, he gently moved in front of her, displacing her before she could react. Ryad, looking very handsome and fuckable in his off-duty clothes, grinned when he saw that it was Sébastian and quickly grabbed the Canadian by the neck and dragged him down for a dirty kiss in full view of the aggrieved ladies.

When they pulled apart, Ryad winked at the women, who looked shocked and mildly angry. The one trying to get into his lap fell off her stool with an ungainly squawk. “Excuse me, but it seems that my boyfriend wants some attention. _Adiós_.”

Sébastian gave the women a bland smile as he grabbed two of the three extra drinks that had been ordered for their table half-an-hour ago, but had been delayed because of them. Cheeky as ever, Ryad had one hand in the back of Sébastian’s jean pocket the entire walk back to their table.   

When they sat back down, Ryad’s mouth ghosted against his ear, nipping teasingly a few times. His purr was barely audible through the music. “My hero… what do you want as your reward, _hmm_?”

Smirking, Sébastian got comfortable in his seat pressed up against Ryad’s side, his non-alcoholic mojito already halfway up to his mouth.

“I’ll tell you when we get back.”  


	9. “Never have I ever...”

“Alright, the rules are simple. You say something you’ve never done, and whoever’s done it has to drink. First one to pass out pays the tab. Got it?” Eliza smirked as she distributed the various types of beers around the table. Tonight was supposed to be an ice-breaker for the new CBRN operators, and what better way to do it with copious amounts of alcohol and a drinking game?

“But first, a big welcome to Lera and Olivier!” Emmanuelle raised her beer up, her uncovered face flushed with life under the lighting. To her left, Monika and Grace did the same with their beers. Across from the Frenchwoman, Julien, Sébastian and Ryad raised their bottles up too, clinking them with the others.

“ _Zazdrarovje!_ ” Lera’s wide grin was at odds with Olivier’s reluctant grimace.

After the first sips of alcohol, the game started. Eliza went first, pointing the rim of her beer bottle at Grace and winking. “Never have I ever called someone the wrong name while hooking up!”

Monika drank from her bottle, her face red in embarrassment. Grace drank too, giving Eliza a glare that had no heat it in and was mostly just for show.

“Monika!” Julien’s hand went over his mouth with a dramatic gasp.

“I’m not telling you anything, Frenchie.” Monika drummed her fingers on the table, thinking for a moment, before she snapped her fingers. “Never have I ever received a noise complaint after sex!”

Julien groaned and drank. Eliza waggled her eyebrows as she downed half the bottle. Ryad gave Sébastian a sheepish look when he drank as well.

“Is this only supposed to be about sex?” Grace pushed her glasses back up her nose.

Eliza shrugged a shoulder. “It’s not that fun if it isn’t, in my opinion.”

The Korean woman let out a short laugh. “Well, then… never have I ever done a striptease!”

Locking eyes with every person at the table, Ryad took a sip of his beer.

Monika simply laughed and flicked her bottle cap at him, saying, “You’re already a walking striptease. Stop being so smug about it!”

Lera chuckled and shook her head. “Let me see… what I have never done… oh, of course! I never have had sex with more than one person, at same time.”

Eliza, Ryad, and surprisingly Julien drank. The male GIGN operator flushed red when he clarified, “I was in college, alright? I was experimenting, and who would say no to a threesome?”

Olivier was silent for a few moments, his blank gaze sweeping over everyone at the table, before he said, “Never have I ever slept with a coworker.”

A chorus of groans. Everyone at the table except for him drank from their beers.

On Julien’s turn, the man dramatically sighed and pushed his cheeks into his hands. “What have I never done… that is a hard question!”

Monika snorted, waving a hand at the man. “Come on, we all know Maxim is a beast, I’m sure there has not been enough hours in the night for you two to do _everything_ already!”

Drunk and giddy, Julien played up his act, calling over to the other table across the dining room that was surrounded by the more serious-faced operators that didn’t want to take part in their childish game. “Hey, Maxim!”

The Russian glanced over, looking flatly disinterested.

“What have we _not_ done yet?”

The man gestured to his bottle of vodka.

“Ah!” Julien turned back and beamed at the group. “Never have I ever done vodka shots off a person’s body!”

With his face burning, Sébastian drank from his beer. Lera busted out laughing, reaching over and clapping the man on the shoulder.

“Who knew the Canadian has done _that_!”

Sébastian cleared his throat, fully aware of Ryad’s curious look at him, and said, “Never have I ever done a honeypot mission.”

Everyone at the table stared at him.

“Wow… I never thought I’d hear that coming from you, Sébastian.” Monika fanned herself with her hand. Grace had her hand over her mouth, as if she was trying to hold back a wicked grin.

Ryad made sure that Sébastian was looking at him when he took his bottle and let his tongue lap at the tip suggestively before he slid the neck of the bottle past his lips and down his throat. He emptied his beer like that, and when he was done he pulled it back up without even a wince of discomfort.

“ _Mon dieu._ ” Julien’s eyes were wide in shock, his bottle paused halfway to his mouth.

Sébastian flushed an even darker shade of red and shifted in his chair.

Wiping at his mouth with his forearm, Ryad’s grin was positively _evil_ when he finally spoke, breaking the silence. “Never have I ever fucked a woman.”

“Wait, really?” Eliza’s eyebrows raised up high on her forehead. “That’s what you haven’t done? You’re lying.”

Ryad licked his lips, waggled his tongue, and then winked at her.

All of the men at the table drank their beers, while Eliza shook her head with a chuckle as she drank. The CBRN man looked somewhat uncomfortable as he glanced between Sébastian and Ryad, but said nothing.

“Alright, next round’s up.” Eliza distributed the next case of beers and then tossed her hat down on the table, running her hands through her hair. “Never have I ever…”


	10. Frost takes matters into her own hands.

“Hey, Séb, can I talk to you for a bit?” From her lazy perch on the bed, Tina looked up from her tablet when Sébastian walked in, freshly showered and dressed in clean clothes.

“Sure. What’s up?” The man paused in the doorway, his gaze immediately alighting on the duffel bag by Tina’s bunk.

“I’m switching bunks! It’s going to be fun rooming with Elena, it’ll be like college all over again!” His CTU partner grinned. It was a pretty smile, and it was a shame she didn’t do it more often.

Sébastian blinked in surprise. “This is… sudden.”

“Hey, I thought you’d be happier. I won’t be cockblocking you as much, you doofus.” Tina rolled her eyes as she got to her feet. Her bed was already stripped bare, and Sébastian was already missing the sight of her neon blue throw pillows with cute slogans that were gifts from her mother. Still smiling, she continued, “Now I can gossip about cute boys and have slumber parties with the rest of the ladies.”

“But you can gossip about cute boys with me, too.” Sébastian played his puppy eyes at her, and then winked.

“I’ll see if I can get you an invitation into the gossip club later.” Tina laughed. She grabbed her duffel and then lightly punched Sébastian on the shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll like your new roommate! I heard he’s even cuter than _you_."

“What? No, that cannot be possible.” Sébastian wrapped Tina in a tight hug. His cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling, and his ears were probably visibly red by now. “I’m the most handsome out of all of them!”

Ryad’s amused chuckle had Sébastian and Tina turning around, still hugging. The man was holding his duffel bag and leaning against the door frame. “I agree, you’re certainly _very_ handsome, Sébastian.”

“And that’s the cue for me to leave!” Tina gave Sébastian another tight hug, winked at Ryad, and then sauntered out looking very pleased for herself

When the door closed behind her, Sébastian shook his head, still grinning. He gestured to the bunkbed with his thumb. “Well, now that we have a room to ourselves, which b— _mmrph!_ ”


	11. Obligatory "beach" episode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by me finding out about bachata dancing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-JofUEsbD0

The sun was high overhead, uncovered by any clouds, but the heat was tempered by the crisp ocean breeze that cooled down the Coastline. Ibiza was beautiful at this time of year, just right before the start of a hot summer that would attract thousands of tourists to its shores.

For the weekend, though, this private little slice of party heaven was all just for Rainbow’s use. A little reward for a very good fiscal year in terms of neutralized White Masks, Six had claimed in her email. It was up to them to decide how to use it, as long as they didn’t trash the place like in their VR training sessions.

And so, the most logical thing to do was to throw a pool and barbeque party. Everyone was here, even the new operators.

Dressed in a pair of maple leaf-patterned board shorts that his sister had given as a joke years ago, Sébastien threw back another ice cold beer. After months of thoroughly cleaning terrorists out of dusty nooks and crannies in Europe, it felt wonderfully good to just kick back and relax in the pool with everyone.

Most of the ladies, dressed in their most enticing swimwear, were in the pool too and playing a rather competitive game of volleyball. Elena, Monika, and Siu Mei were all cornering Elias and poor Julien on the dance patio, laughing and poking light fun at their dancing skills (or rather, the lack thereof).

On one of the couches laughing and chatting away were Meghan and Craig, doing their best to not be subtle at all in their affection. Opposite them and lounging on some beach chairs were Zofia, Marius, Gustave, and Gilles. Next to them and seated on another couch, Chul Kyung, dressed in some shorts and a long-sleeved shirt but not his mask, was humoring Liu Tze while he was talking up a storm and absent-mindedly downing his fifth Tsingtao.

Further back, Seamus, Alexsandr and Mike were arguing over the best way to cook steaks while Jack did his best to ignore them while grilling the hotdogs and hamburger patties. Shuhrat was mixing drinks and setting it down next to the large serving table by Timur, who was sketching while sitting on another couch under the veranda. Vincente was passed out next to him, sprawled out over the rest of the space on the couch to have an afternoon nap.

“Hey _Oppa_ , isn’t the music boring? We need more life in this party!” Grace waded up to where Sébastien was lounging against the side of the pool, her eyes undoubtedly glinting with urge to mess with something electronic.

“I think it’s alright, but if you really want to change the playlist, you can try.” Sébastien pointed to the small DJ station that Ryad and Dominic were fussing over. The German was wearing a camo boonie hat that he’d undoubtedly stolen from Meghan earlier and was covered in a pasty film of the strongest sunscreen possible. On the other hand, Ryad looked just at home in just a multicolored pair of short swim trunks and tinted sunglasses.

“Pfft.” Grace tilted her sunglasses down and gave Sébastien a playful wink. “I just need my phone. Where did we put all our towels again?”

“By the couch. Can you bring me another beer while you’re there, please?”

“Sure. Corona, Blue Moon, or Coors?”

“Coors. It’s not Canadian lager, but it’s good enough.”

Grace laughed as she went up the pool’s stairs. “Don’t let Jack or Miles hear that, or you’ll never hear the end of it.”

Sébastien waved her off and narrowly avoided being hit in the face with a wet volleyball. He threw the ball back, which actually hit Jordan in the nose. Eliza took the ball from him when he recovered and then dunked the poor man down into the water before he was able to steal it back.

The Coastline’s usual music cut out for a second before a Spanish song started playing. Sébastien vaguely remembered hearing it on the radio a few times back at the base, so it must be one of those top hits.

Over at the DJ station, which in actuality was just Grace’s laptop hooked up via Bluetooth to the speakers, Dominic threw his hands up and stalked over to where the grills were. Smiling, Ryad shook his head and walked over back to where Sébastien was waiting.

Now with Tina’s posh hat on her head, Grace came back with a Coors and a Corona, which she handed to both men. With a low whistle, she tilted her sunglasses again, but this time at Ryad. “Where do they sell shorts shorter than that? I need to get one for Chul Kyung to prank him with.”

“Just go to any beach store in Spain. I bet you can even find a thong that will fit him perfectly.” Ryad stepped into the pool, laughing as he took a swig of his beer. He settled next to Sébastien and they clinked their bottles together.

“Oooh, that’s a better idea. I’ll definitely go get one later.” Grace waded back into the water, clutching at her borrowed hat. She headed over to the still-ongoing volleyball game, where Taina was leading her team to victory. “Hey! I want in on the winning team!”

The quick pitter-patter of feet against wet concrete in their direction had both of them looking up. Elena grinned at them, her hands on her hips as she leaned over. “Hey, come over and dance with us! Julien's okay, but wow it’s like Elias has two left feet!”

“I heard that!” Elias pouted from where he was, surrounded by the other three women who were dancing to the quick beats of the latin music. Julien just laughed even louder.

Sébastien raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure I’m an even worse dancer than Elias if it isn’t ballroom. Remember what happened last time?”

“Ugh. You’re no fun.” Elena rolled her eyes, and then turned to Ryad with a suggestive look in her eyes. “Ryad, come on.”

“No thanks. I’m going to sit here and enjoy my boyfriend in the water.” Ryad casually took another swig from his beer.

“Please?” Elena tried her puppy eyes on him. “They have _no_ hips, Ryad! Help a girl out!”

“Well…”

“Ryad.” Dropping the puppy eyes, Elena pinned him with a serious look. “I. Need. My. _Bachata!_ ”

“Fine, fine. I’ll do _bachata_ with you. Just one song, though.” Ryad handed his half-finished beer to Sébastien and pulled himself out of the pool, dripping wet and all.

“What’s _bachata_?” Not getting an answer, Sébastien turned around and hung on the side of the pool, watching them go to the patio. Elena dragged Ryad over, said something to Elias, and then started dancing. Laughing, Ryad followed suit and let the younger woman lead. Next to them, Elias and Monika were watching and trying to dance similarly. Siu Mei had taken out her phone to record the spectacle. Maxim had left the pool volleyball game and wandered over to Julien, hugging him from behind and generally being a nuisance while the man was also recording the dancing.

When the next song started, another vaguely familiar remixed song from the radio, Sébastien discovered what _bachata_ was.

It was sinfully fluid, hips rocking and hands sliding in a dance that was so sensual. He didn’t even know that either Ryad or Elena could move like that, spinning and moving together with barely an inch to spare between them. If he didn’t know better, it looked almost as if they were just grinding on the patio, legs and arms sliding between and out to the changing tempo.

“ _Oh mon deu._ ” Sébastien swallowed down the rest of his beer, his mouth suddenly dry.

“Holy shit.” Miles’s sudden comment next to his ears nearly had Sébastien whacking him with his empty beer bottle. The man’s eyes were glued to Elena’s smiling face and other attributes. “You seein’ what I’m seein’?”

“Y-yes. It’s… wow.” Sébastien inwardly smacked himself for not noticing the man swimming up, but then was distracted again when Ryad and Elena slowed down to the drop of the beat and rolled against each other – a tantalizing sight that would make anyone’s mouth water. Not wanting to be outdone, Meghan dragged Craig into the dancing as well, the bearded man making a very good attempt at not stepping on his partner’s toes. They were all having fun, though, which was what counted the most.

“Yep.” Miles leaned against the pool next to Sébastien, echoing the same amazed tone in his voice. After a moment, he pulled himself up and out of the pool, heading over to the beer cooler and picking up his towel along the way.

When the song ended, Elena stuck out her tongue at the two recording their dance and laughed when Ryad easily lifted her off the ground.

Her laughing quickly cut and turned into frantic, “Stop, stop, stop, you _capullo—!_ ” when Ryad casually sauntered over to the pool’s deep side and tossed her into it. It was his turn to grin like an idiot and dived in afterwards. A moment later, Elena resurfaced, spitting and treading water like an angry cat as she swam over to the edge to hoist herself up and sweep back her hair. Elena accepted the towel Miles draped over her shoulders with a slightly miffed sniff, but then she smiled when the man sat down next to her, handing her a Corona.

Sébastien had just set down his empty bottle on the pool’s side when a hand grabbed his ankle and _pulled_. He went underneath quickly. The rush of chlorinated water blinded him for a moment, and then arms wrapped around him and pushed him back up. He broke the water’s surface first, coughing, and then Ryad came up, pressed against him in all the right places.

The Spaniard slicked back his wet hair, did the same for Sébastien, and then gave him a nice and wet kiss that lasted for a good long while. When they broke apart, Ryad was still smiling with that satisfied look on his face. “Did you like the _bachata_?”

“Yes?” Sébastien wasn’t sure if there was any other possible way to answer that question.

A stray volleyball whapped against the side of Ryad’s head, breaking the moment, and Ela’s indignant shout of “Go get a room, you two!” didn’t even make Sébastien’s equally stupid-looking grin waver in the least.


End file.
